Worship on Saturday or Sunday?

I have a lot of relatives who are Seventh-day Adventists.  I think a lot of what they do and say about living in faith is very correct.  However, I’ve never been able to absorb why it is so important to go to church on Saturday.  How could a whole body of believers set their religion seemingly around that one thing.  

According to Wikipedia and a religion article on BBC, Seventh-day Adventists (SDA) are “distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in Christian and Jewish calendars, as the Sabbath” and they “keep the Sabbath from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday, because God set apart the seventh day of creation week to be a day of rest and a memorial of creation.” 

I believe that is a respectable observance.  In fact, one of the ten commandments (the fourth one) is “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord your God. … For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.” (Exodus 20:8-10a,11)  Considering this, it is easy to believe they are not wrong.  In fact, I am willing to commend anyone, in this age of demonstrating little obedience to God’s Word, that obeys out of conviction.  So, it is not my intention here to do so, but to try to understand my own thoughts on the matter.

If the Bible says, keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it and the traditional week starts on Sunday and ends on Saturday, then why oh why do I go to church on Sunday?  Am I just going with tradition and being disobedient now that the truth has been revealed to me?  This is the question that must be answered.

Traditionally, we commemorate the death of Jesus as being on Friday.  This has for as long as I’ve been alive been recognized as Good Friday.  It is called “good” as a translation of an Old English expression meaning holy.  It could have just as easily be named Holy Friday and not be a misinterpretation.  I’m sure it was an easier sell as a holiday to the public named as Good Friday.  Many churches have a Maundy Thursday service as well.  Maundy is a shortened version of the Latin word mandatum which means command (mandate).  This service recognizes the Last Supper and the command that Jesus gave at that time to love one another and serve one another.

Truth is, the whole dying on Friday and resurrecting on Sunday has never made sense to me because the numbers didn’t add up.  You want me to believe that Jesus, who didn’t lie because He didn’t sin, said He would be in the earth for three days and three nights as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish (Mt 12:40), but was resurrected after only two nights and two days (Mary went before daybreak to find Him already gone (Jn 20:1))?  It is only after understanding that the following week was the Sabbath week and every day can be referred to as a Sabbath that you can see that Mary likely didn’t go to the grave until a full three days and three nights had passed.  We just celebrate Easter on a Sunday for convenience and honestly, I’m okay with that once I understand the number confusion.

Getting back on topic, when Jesus was resurrected, it was a new day.  The world changed for man.  People were no longer doomed to their sins, but can be rescued eternally.  Jesus is the only hope for this world.  God’s plan is salvation for the world, but people must choose.  Even so, there is this event called the Eighth Day.  ( A good study research project that can be done regarding the Eight Day and the Eighth person.  Noah was rescued for his righteousness as the eighth person.  Moses said to give the firstborn of your sons on the eighth day.)  But here in our topic, the fulfillment of the Eighth Day is when God’s Kingdom will be eternal.  It will begin and never end. 

In essence, the Eighth Day is a day that symbolizes complete submission to God, fulfillment of righteousness and the day that God accepts the offerings for our sin.  Since our sins can only be accepted through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we must realize that we are living in the time of the Eighth Day.  For me, worshipping on Sunday, instead of Saturday, means that we are acknowledging God’s acceptance of us through Jesus.  It is worship to Jesus for His sacrifice and praise that we live in Him and Him alone.

I doubt the modern church intended this, but arranged itself to the week society presented.  However, I am willing to accept it as I believe it is acceptable.  As far as the SDA church goes, while I commend their strict observance in obedience and am always encouraged by believers following Jesus, studying His Word, and worshipping together, I have to hope they are willing to accept an alternate view.  Like everyone, I’m sure some will just be happy I know Jesus personally as I am towards them and others will think I am misled.